About FotoFest

A Platform for Art and Ideas

FotoFest International is a non-profit photographic arts and education organization based in Houston, Texas. Co-founded in 1983 by Frederick Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, FotoFest promotes U.S. and international engagement with artists and ideas through museum-quality photo-based art from around the world. The first FotoFest Biennial was held in 1986. It is the first and longest running photographic arts festival in the United States, and it is considered as one of the leading international photography Biennials in the world.As an international platform for serious photographic arts exhibitions, the FotoFest Biennials and FotoFest’s year-round programming have become known for the discovery and presentation of important new work and new talent from around the world. In selecting its exhibitions and related art programs, FotoFest has a strong commitment to aesthetic quality and important social issues. FotoFest has curated and commissioned exhibitions of photo-based art from Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Its Biennial portfolio review, the Meeting Place, is considered one of the best in the world. In addition to its year-round art programming, FotoFest’s school-based education program, Literacy Through Photography, uses photography to stimulate visual literacy, writing and analytical thinking.
FotoFest is a member of the Festival of Light, an international network of photography events which FotoFest helped initiate in 2000. The Festival of Light network has a membership of 23 photography festivals from over 18 countries across the world.